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On Thursday, August 2nd, the Chicago Bears will take on the Baltimore Ravens in the opening game of the 2018 NFL Preseason.

The Crowd:

“The Crowd” is projecting a final score of Ravens 23.7 – Bears 18.6 with an over/under of 42.3.

2017-18 Statistics (32 total teams):

Yards per game: Ravens 305.4 (27th) > Bears 287.4 (30th)

Points per game: Ravens 24.7 (9th) > Bears 16.5 (29th)

Turnover margin: Ravens +17 > Bears 0

Yards allowed per game: Bears 319.1 (10th) > Ravens 325.1 (12th)

Points allowed per game: Ravens 18.9 (6th) > Bears 20.0 (9th)

Summary:

The Bears are coming off a (5-11) season and a last place finish in the NFC North. Chicago will look for a big jump from second year quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky flashed at times but completed just 59% of his passes to go along with a 7-7 touchdown to interception ratio. The Bears have one of the most dynamic backfields in the NFL with Jordan Howard and speedster Tarik Cohen. The offseason addition of Allen Robinson will finally give Trubisky a legitimate #1 wide receiver and Taylor Gabriel proved to be a very effective slot receiver. Chicago returns almost their entire defense from a unit that ranked in the top ten last year. Danny Trevathan and first round pick Roquan Smith could become one of the most formidable linebacking duos in the league in time. The Bears (-56) ranked 20th in the NFL in point differential.

The Ravens finished last season with a (9-7) record and fell just short of reaching the postseason. Baltimore’s offense definitely took a step back last year but their defense was stout. Joe Flacco enters his age 33 season after completing 64% of his passes for 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions a year ago. If Flacco can’t get the job done the Ravens could turn to electric rookie Lamar Jackson who could potentially turn into the most dynamic player in his draft class. The additions of Michael Crabtree and John Brown should provide a huge boost to what was a very underwhelming wide receiver corps a season ago. The ageless wonder Terrell Suggs can still get to the quarterback while a revamped Baltimore secondary was much improved last year. The Ravens (+92) ranked 8th in the NFL in point differential.

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